During his stay, the IICA Director General met with various groups and senior officials, including the High Commissioners of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Upon his return from a four-day visit to Canada, IICA Director General Víctor M. Villalobos said he had identified the priorities of Canada’s cooperation related to agricultural development and efforts to improve food security and natural resource use and management in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

Villalobos’ first visit to the country as Director General took place from 15-19 June. One of the objectives was to present to senior government officials and representatives of key agencies the strategy that the Institute intends to implement on behalf of agriculture and the rural sector in LAC over the next four years.

Canada is one of the 34 Member States of this specialized agency for agriculture of the Inter-American System, whose headquarters are located in San Jose, Costa Rica.

“Our aim,” - explained the Director General - “was to renew and strengthen the Institute’s relations and commitments with the Government of Canada and its institutions, in order to continue working together to solve common problems that affect agriculture in the Americas.”

During his stay, Villalobos met with the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Gerry Ritz, Deputy Minister John Knubley and other ministry officials.

He also had a meeting with the advisor to the Minister of International Cooperation, Robin Guy, and Lisa Filetrault, Regional Director General for LAC of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Villalobos met with the Director General for LAC of the Departament of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), James Lambert; the Director General of Export and Import Controls, Susan Harper; the Vice-President for Policy and Programs of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Sandra Wing; and the Director of Agriculture and Environment of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Jean Lebel.

The Director General took advantage of his stay in Canada to hold discussions with the ambassadors of the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) and the High Commissiners of the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

Fruitful visit

The outcome of the Director General’s meetings with representatives of various Canadian institutions was highly positive. The institutions concerned confirmed their commitment to collaborating with IICA on matters of mutual interest, such as competitive agriculture, rural development, environmentally sustainable agriculture, food security, and economic growth. These topics dovetail with the key areas for cooperation included in IICA’s proposed 2010-2014 Medium-term Plan.

As a result of the Director General’s visit, the parties agreed to prepare together a Strategic Plan for Collaboration between Canada and IICA to strengthen current and future cooperation, with the Canadian partners playing a key role in the activities and projects.

The Canadian partners have already been playing an active role in the Americas with IICA in fields such as innovation and technology transfer, the prevention of and response to animal health emergencies, biotechnology, agribusiness and fair trade. The new plan will support the governmental initiative “Canada and the Americas.”

The Director General traveled to Canada with IICA’s Secretary of External Affairs, Lars Pira, and the Director of Performance Management and Evaluation, Dowlat Budhram. The IICA Representative in Canada, Michael Bedoya, accompanied them on their official engagements.

For more information, contact
lars.pira@iica.int